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Books on the Meaning of Life
These books about the meaning of life are based on a complete and holistic understanding of consciousness taken from the Vedic Tradition of ancient India, as described in great detail by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Maharishi took the ancient knowledge of the Seers, often misunderstood by Western scholars, and made it accessible to modern minds.
The books, published by thesageandthelotus.com, take their inspiration from Maharishi and tackle the meaning of life from different angles.
Book 1: The Sage and the Lotus
Everyone knows that we each have a mind and a body and that those two parts of life work together. Yet science has no adequate theory to explain the connection.
At the heart of this difficulty lies the Mind-Body problem, which is as much to do with the way we understand reality as with the scientific understanding of our bodies.
In Maharishi's teaching both mind and body are two complementary parts of a more universal, underlying cosmic wholeness which can be brought to the level of direct experience through Transcendental Meditation.
Opening one’s awareness to that inner reality is called Self-realisation. Expanding that inner wholeness into activity in the world creates Enlightened living. Both topics are discussed in the book.
The book also uses the symbol of the Lotus on the Lake to connect individual consciousness with the universal value of Being that underpins it.
The image of the lotus, adapted from Laya Yoga, beautifully expresses the relationship between individual life and the cosmic wholeness of absolute Being. It is a poetic and yet technical description of the structure of individual consciousness and its relationship to the Whole.
A Five Worlds Framework for human experience is developed to help promote holistic approaches in every area of practical life. Different cultural and spiritual traditions can use the framework to make their own contributions.
The final chapters apply the knowledge in the book to three different areas of life: spiritual development, education and medicine.
As an extra, Maharishi's description of higher states of consciousness is included as an appendix.